Before you start reading, I just wanted to thank you guys for your support. It means a lot to me, especially when I get new emails telling me that someone has reviewed or followed my story!
My first fanfic had 3 followers, and it's long since been deleted, but I'm grateful that I have wonderful readers like you. I'm trying to update more often now, just for you guys.
Tell me if you liked this chapter; it's quite short, but hey I tried!
-The Answer Is Love
The Baby Project Chapter 10
"Why do we only get slop for lunch?" Rue grumbled, as a lunch lady ladled a glob of lumpy stew onto her plate. Some stew splattered Rue's shirtfront, and her stripy pink shirt remained stained even after a long scrubbing session. "Beats me," Marianna replies, reaching for a bag of apple slices and a bottle of water. I point at some macaroni and cheese, and get a big helping from the lunch lady. Madge and Peeta have their own lunches, and sit at the table waiting for us. Annie pays for her lunch, salad, and runs off to join Peeta and Madge.
As you can probably tell, it's lunch now, and we're all hungry and tired of putting up with Glimmer's torture. We've been pelted with erasers and pencil sharpenings all day long, and I can't take it anymore. I navigate my way in between the cafeteria tables, and find my friends sitting already, waiting for me to arrive. I slide in between Madge and Annie.
"Oh, look, Katniss, there's your boyfriend," Marianna snorts, as Bradley Higgins strolls up to me, his jeans slung so low they're almost at his knees. Two inches of his underwear show. "Hey, Katty," he grins, winking at me. He has two of his friends with him, and they hang back, their hands in their pockets. I recognise them as the two boys from the library with Rue today.
"Bradley," I say uncomfortably.
Marianna giggles into her bag of apple slices, and Madge chokes on her sandwich. Rue spits out her water across the table. Peeta smirks into his bread, and Annie Cresta smiles sweetly at Bradley. "Hello, Bradley," she says.
Bradley winks at her. "Hey, sweetie," he says to her. Then he looks at me. "Come on, let's go somewhere. Just us."
Marianna kicks my foot under the table and muffles her giggles into Peeta's shoulder. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cato, Finnick, and the other two boys sitting at their table. Cato's eyes were fixed on me. I nodded slowly, and he nodded back. Then he turned to talk to Finnick.
"Let's just talk downstairs," I say. So I grabbed my bag, swung it over my shoulder, and apologised to Peeta, Marianna, Madge, Rue and Annie. I walked out, and Bradley followed me, hanging back a little because of his jeans. I think they were falling off his legs.
We jogged down the stairs, and eventually ended up in a secluded corner. I checked behind the walls. There was nobody there. Bradley leaned against the wall, grinning at me. I think he thought I led him away to make out.
"Oh, Katty, nice make-out den," he laughed, coming closer to me. My back was pressed against the wall. "Let's get started, then."
He tilted his head to the side and shut his eyes, leaning in. I pushed him back, both hands on his chest. "No!" I squeaked. "No! Bradley, I didn't come here to kiss you."
He looked at me, confused. "Huh? What? What are we here for, then?" His blue eyes searched mine, curiously. "Nothing," I said quietly. "I just…don't think this is working. I…this is difficult. Er…Bradley, we have to break up."
He stepped back. His jeans fell a little lower on his hips. "What did you just say?" he whispers. I shake my head at him. "Bradley, it's not working. At all. You call me Katty, but I hate nicknames. You aren't…who I thought you were."
He runs a hand through his brown hair. "What? How could you even say that?" he says, getting angry now. "How could you? I was crazy for you, but I knew it was all about him! I knew!"
"Who?" I say. "Who? I doubt you even know!"
"Cato Cerulean!" he snaps. "I saw the secret looks, the way he looked when you talked to him, I even saw your eyes flick towards him when I was talking to him. How could you? Thought you were being so secretive?" he rolled his eyes. "You were about as secretive as a giraffe holding a balloon. I bet you've been with him, behind my back!"
I look down at the floor guiltily. "It's true," I whisper back. "All of it. But that didn't stop you from liking Glimmer whilst you were dating me."
Bradley's hands grasp at his hair, and he barks, "What do you know about me? Nothing! You know absolutely nothing! So just shut up, Everdeen, and get lost!"
"That's not a very nice way to talk to a lady." A voice says from behind me. Bradley's jaw drops, and I turn around to see Cato, coming towards us. His jaw is set and his eyes are a dull blue, like arctic ice. Bradley steps back, annoyed.
"That's not a lady," Bradley says. Then he starts yelling. "That's a mutt! A stinking mutt who manipulates people!"
Bradley turns to run, but Cato grabs his collar. "Don't ever talk about Katniss like that ever again!" he shouted furiously. "She's amazing and you don't deserve her. If I hear anything as stupid and wrong as that coming out of your disgusting mouth, or if you've had your grubby little hands on her, I'll get you. I'll hunt you down and make you sorry."
Finnick and two other boys walk out from the shadows behind Cato. Finnick winks at me. Bradley's face is pale white and he's trembling. "Alright," he whispers. Cato drops him and he crumples to the floor, but quickly jumps up again and runs up the stairs. Cato stares after him angrily, eyes dark and menacing.
Cato's arms surround me, and he pulls me against him. My arms wrap around his body and we cling there, his head resting on top of mine. "God, he's such an asshole," Cato mutters, as we pull away. His fingers stroke my cheek gently. "Yeah," I laugh a little. Somebody clears their throat.
"All right, Cato, save it for later," Finnick says. "But I think you should introduce Gay-le and Marvie the Fairy for now."
The two tall boys shove Finnick, laughing. Cato laughs too, but keeps a firm arm around my waist. "This is Gale Hawthorne," he says, gesturing to a tall, slightly toned dark-haired boy with mischievous eyes. "He's awesome. And this is Marvel Geller." He nods towards the lanky boy with brown hair and green eyes who asked why I was holding the baby doll a couple days ago.
"Hey," Marvel smiled. "I'm not really a fairy."
"Yeah, I know," I laughed, leaning against Cato. I liked Cato's friends. They were great.
"And you already know who I am, but I'll introduce myself as the man of your dreams." Finnick comes to my other side and drapes a friendly arm around my shoulders. We all laugh. "What do you want to do now?" Cato asks. I shrug.
"Won't Mari, Peeta, Annie, Madge and Rue be expecting me back? We could all hang out together," I suggest.
Cato, Finnick, Marvel and Gale all nodded, so we trooped back to the cafeteria, Finnick's arm around my shoulders and Cato's arm around my waist. When we stepped in, everything went quiet. I guess Bradley did something. My friends get up and run over to me, hugging me tightly.
"Bradley went crazy! I thought something happened to you!" Marianna gasped. I laughed. "No, I'm fine. Cato, Finnick, Marvel and Gale stopped him before he could do anything."
Marianna looked at Cato in awe. "I knew he was special!" she squealed to me. She smiled at Cato. "Thanks for rescuing Katniss," she said. Cato nods at her, his arm still around me. "My pleasure," he said gruffly.
Peeta, Madge, Rue and Annie all came over, and Annie's eyes were glued to Finnick's face. Finnick was looking at his shoes though. "Shall we all go outside?" I ask, and everyone seems happy with the suggestion, so we all find a spot under a tree in the school grounds and sit down in the shade.
My back is against the tree trunk, and Cato is leaning on it next to me. I'm leaning half on his body and his warm arm envelopes me. Mari and Peeta sit next to each other, knees touching. Rue and Annie Cresta are lying down on their stomachs, and Madge and Gale are laughing. Cato and I are talking to Finnick and Marvel, sharing jokes.
"There's this new movie in the theatre I really want to watch. Maybe we could all go?" Marvel inquired. Cato thought about it. "Do you want to go, Katniss?" he asked me. I leaned my head against his shoulder, and his arm tightened around me. "Sure," I said enthusiastically. "Let's go."
"I'll come too," Madge declared. "me and Gale."
Operation Gadge was live.
"I'll come, if you want," Rue replied. "But I don't want to be thirdwheeling."
"Of course you won't be thirdwheeling!" I exclaimed. "We'd love to have you there. Maybe you could ask Thresh to come with you?"
Rue beamed at me. "Yeah, I will," she grins.
"Count me and Mari in," Peeta smiled.
"I'll come along for the laughs, girl on fire," Finnick grinned lazily.
Cato looked at Finnick. "Girl on what?" he asked.
"Fire. Girl on fire. She's so fiery, isn't she? Fierce?" Finnick articulated.
Cato smiled at me, then nodded slowly. "Fiery. Like her eyes. Yeah." I smiled back, then wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. Both of his arms enveloped my body, and I clung to him, grateful for his warmth in the cool shade.
"And there Catoniss go again." Marvel chuckled. Then he turned to Annie Cresta, who was sitting silently, listening to our conversations. "Are you coming, Cresta?"
Annie blinked, observing us quickly. "Do you want me to come?" she asked us, her voice barely a whisper. She pushed her glasses further up her nose. We all smiled and nodded, but Finnick took her hand gently in his and said, "I'd certainly love to have you there, Miss Cresta."
Annie blushed scarlet. "Th-th-thanks," she stammered. "I'll come." Finnick's mouth twitched up into a grin, and he didn't drop her hand.
"That Bradley was such an idiot," Marianna said, examining her nails. "I don't even know what you saw in him."
I sighed. "I didn't really see anything in him," I admitted. "He was sort of…"
"A rebound?" Finnick suggests. We all laugh.
"Yeah, Finnick. A rebound," I say, rolling my eyes.
Cato shifts a little, and my head is resting on his chest. His eyes are fixed on mine, and he mouths "Love you," at me. I smile and mouth it straight back, reaching up and touching his cheek. The corners of his mouth lift, and both of his arms wrap around me tightly. I feel like laughing all of a sudden, so I do.
Cato starts laughing randomly too, and we're both falling apart in hysterics when we notice that nobody else is laughing. Rue, Madge, Mari, Peeta, Marvel, Gale, Finnick and Annie are all staring at us, with worried looks on our faces, like we did something wrong.
"What are you guys looking at?" I giggle, covering my mouth with my hand. "You look so…shocked!" Cato and I laugh some more, then mimic their faces. Peeta shakes his head and laughs uncertainly. "You two are so weird and perfect for each other," Mari laughs.
"Oh, remember! Health class! Our baby!" Gale exclaims. He swings his black backpack off of his shoulder and dumps it on his lap, fishing around inside. His large hand comes out clutching a slightly dirty baby doll. "Oh, Gale!" Madge groans. "Tony's dirty! Are we allowed to bathe him?" her hand covers her mouth. "You're such a bad daddy."
"But you like me like that," Gale snorts, kissing Madge's cheek. Madge blushes momentarily, but lets it slide. She takes Tony carefully from Gale, wrapping him up in a square of blue cloth from her bag. She stows him away, and zips it up.
Mari and Peeta grab each other excitedly. "We chose a name," Mari says proudly. "Her name is Zoey." Peeta lifts Zoey out of his bag, and shows us a small baby doll in a fluffy pink blanket with a rubbery face and blue glassy eyes. Cato squeezes me tighter.
"She's…beautiful, man," Marvel says uncertainly.
"My, she's pretty," Annie awkwardly cuts in.
"Gorgeous," Cato mutters.
"Maybe Tony and Zoey can marry!" Madge squeals. Gale rolls his eyes.
"Yeah, and they can have a kid named Dan." He says.
We all splutter, rolling around on the grass in hysterics. Being with these guys make me happy.
"What's your baby called, Katniss?" Rue asks me. "Mine and Thresh's is called May. Thresh chose it because his birthday's in May."
Cato lets go of me for a while, and grabs his bag too. He opens it and brings out our doll. Unlike Tony, it's clean, and the face looks less creepy. "Aw, you took such good care of it!" Madge coos, tickling its little plastic chin. "But you'd better pick a name, because we have Health class again tomorrow."
"Well, I'm letting Katniss pick," Cato says.
Marianna's green eyes sparkle. "There are so many possibilities!" she beamed. "Marianna is one of the better options. Mari, for short."
"Yeah, right," Peeta huffs. "I think Peeta's a better option." Then everyone's shouting their names.
"Annie!"
"Finnick!"
"Marvel!"
"Gale!"
"Madge!"
"Be quiet!" Rue laughs.
"How about…" I looked up at the sky. It was blue, with a faint pink tint. Beautiful. "…Skye," I said slowly. "Skye."
Cato and the others thought about it. "Hm. I like it." Cato agreed.
The others did too.
"Skye, Skye, Skye. Skye Everdeen-Cerulean. Cute!" Marianna grinned.
The bell for the end of lunch went, and we all stood up to go back to school.
"I have a free period," Marvel says. "What have you all got next?"
"Me, Katniss and Rue have Geography," Marianna announces.
"History." Madge grunts.
"Physics with Cato," Finnick smiles.
"English Lit." Gale declares.
"Oh." Marvel says unhappily. "What about you, Mellark and Cresta?"
"I'm free," Peeta said.
"Sorry, not free. Got to go to the library," Annie explains, adjusting her glasses. "But this lunch with you was nice. I like you guys."
We all hugged each other, but when I got to Cato, he held me close and whispered into my ear, "Don't worry. I'll call you tonight." I laughed, and watched Cato and Finnick strolled off, hands in their pockets. Marvel and Peeta went away, chatting noisily, and Madge walked back to the building. Annie scuttled over to the library, hair swishing, and Mari, Rue and I linked arms and went to the Geography block.
All through Geography, I was focused on Cato. Cato's arms around me, Cato's blue eyes trained on my grey ones, the heat of his body, the muscles in his arms. His firm grip. I sighed loudly.
"Katniss Everdeen! Stop thinking inappropriate thoughts and focus! Now, what is the capital of Germany?" Ms. Mason snapped.
"Greenland," Rue said quietly, and Mari snorted.
"Berlin, Ms. Mason," I said earnestly. Ms. Mason scowled.
"Yes, that's right. Please stand up, Marianna Dawson."
Marianna stood up uncertainly, not knowing what she'd done.
"Yes, Ms. Mason?"
"Don't act all innocent," Ms. Mason snapped. "I'm moving you for helping Katniss cheat."
Marianna flushed red. "I did not!" she said hotly. "She said it herself!"
I stand up too. "She didn't help me cheat! I never even cheated!" I yell.
Ms. Mason raised an eyebrow. "Don't fight me, Everdeen. Both of you sit down before I give you detention."
I shut my mouth and sat down, annoyed. How dare she accuse us of cheating!
"If you'll all play fairly, unlike Everdeen here, we'll get along nicely," Ms. Mason grinned.
I couldn't agree more.
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-The Answer Is Love